User Functions

So, Improbable Island has been going for a couple of years now and it's turning into something that can keep me alive and with a roof over my head without me having to do website design. It's turned from a hobby into a full-time job.

Since then, I've gotten married, and my wife, Emily(*), has gotten increasingly frustrated with her job. She does database work for a hospital; the pay's good, but the hours and the work itself is pretty depressing.

I've noticed lately that my original goal - "Hey, I'll write a text adventure game!" - hasn't quite worked out the way I wanted it to, because I thought it'd be about writing. I figured I'd have a plot, decent characters, a beginning, middle and end - you know, a story. But lately I've been doing a lot more building of games and systems than I have building of worlds, and I'm beginning to realise that that's what I'm good at.

The Island needs a writer.

A dedicated writer, so that I can be a dedicated coder. Recently I've done all sorts of stuff with Titans, Onslaught, new Commentary, Dwellings, and all that jazz - but the last actual piece of world-building writing that I did was in Common Ground, with its time-sensitive description text. I believe that was before Christmas.

Oh, and there were some lions, too.

To give you an idea of where I am right now, let's say this: the system is in place to extend that level of time-and-context-sensitive detail to every Outpost. I just don't have any writing to go in the system.

It's not that I don't like writing, and forgive me for parping my own horn but I don't think it's that I'm not good at it (although that sentence may have been evidence to the contrary). It's just that I have so much else to do.

You'll have noticed by now that there's a new commentary system up and running on the Island. I thought I'd take a few minutes to explain what it does and why I wrote it.

The most obvious change is... well, obvious. There's an extra channel in Outpost chat areas, called "Banter." This is there so that casual everyday chat doesn't get mixed up in roleplaying, and vice-versa. There's little need for me to talk about this, since... well, you've seen it. :)

The bigger changes happen under the hood. Hit "Full Article" for the rest.

So it's not enough that I code me fingers to the bone stayin' up 'til four in the morning most nights, you want me to write about what I code?

Well then!

Latest updates:
1. Type GREM in a chat box to have your last comment removed.
2. Type AFK in a chat box to go Away From Keyboard (turns your chat icon grey).
3. A new Mount Accessories system is coming along nicely.

Honestly most of what I've been doing the past couple of weeks is cleaning up and tweaking the new commentary system. :P

So, that's updates out of the way! Now let's talk about indie gaming. Hit "Full Article" for the rest.

Improbable Island is now more open than ever - you, as a player, can now create new features for the game and submit them to us for inclusion. Check out labs.improbableisland.com and see what you can come up with!

On the first of July - with any luck - we'll be heading into the Open Beta phase of Improbable Island Season Two! What does this mean?

It means that, with one month left to run, I'm gonna blow the lid off the much-rumoured Secret Feature and let you guys know some of the things that are happening in Season Two. Read on for the full story!